Putin Calls For Postponement Of Referendums In East Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) and Swiss President and current OSCE Chairman Didier Burkhalter hold a press conference at the Kremlin in Moscow on May 7.

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Putin Calls For Postponement Of Referendums In East Ukraine

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Russian President Vladimir Putin has called on separatists in eastern Ukraine to postpone plans to conduct referendums on self-determination planned for May 11.

Speaking after meeting on May 7 with Swiss President Didier Burkhalter, whose country currently holds the rotating chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Putin called on the pro-Russia separatists to hold their referendums at a later date.

At the same time, Putin called on authorities in Kyiv to immediately halt security operations in eastern Ukraine aimed at wresting control of several cities and towns from the pro-Russian separatists.

Putin also said the planned presidential election in Ukraine, set for May 25, was a "step in the right direction" but would not help solve that country's problems, as there are people in Ukraine who do not understand how their rights would be protected after the election.

He blamed the "organizers of the February coup" for allowing the situation in Ukraine to get out of control and failing to disarm what Putin called "right-wing radical and national elements."

Putin rejected claims that Russia held the key to restoring stability in eastern and southern Ukraine, saying such assertions were a "trick of our Western partners that have no basis."

The Russian leader welcomed the release of the so-called "people's governor" of Donetsk, Pavel Gubarev, and two others who were exchanged for three captured Ukrainian Security Service agents earlier on May 7, but Putin said all "political prisoners" in Ukraine must be freed.

WATCH: Pro-Russian forces retake control of city hall in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol after Ukrainian forces briefly drove them out with tear gas overnight.

With reporting by ITAR-TASS, Rossia-24 TV, Interfax, and Reuters

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